The Giant Killer

Richard J. Flaherty's been called spook, assassin, dope smuggler, dwarf… but who was he really?
At 4' 9" and 97 pounds, Richard J. Flaherty was the most unconventional man to ever serve in the U.S. military and needed a Congressional waver just to enlist in the Army. Bullied and ridiculed at boot camp, Flaherty nonetheless achieved the kind of stature that's only dreamed of. He became a captain in the Green Berets, earning the Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars and 2 Purple Hearts. His decommission in 1971 was unexpected and devastating, and Flaherty sank into the murky world of mercenary work. But he gained a reputation for intelligence, and the CIA recruited him to supply the Contras in Central America. So began a wild adventure involving guns, cash, cocaine and HALO jumps into the Everglades. All of that ends when he's arrested for possession. Abandoned by the CIA, Flaherty discloses a weapons smuggling ring at the heart of Fort Bragg and signs on to work undercover for a new master, the ATF.
Author and police officer David Yuzuk befriended Richard J. Flaherty in 1999, when Flaherty was living homeless on the streets of Aventura, Florida. In the summer of 2015, Flaherty turned to Yuzuk and confessed the chilling words, "it's time I tell you who I really am." After telling Yuzuk his unbelivable life story he warned Yuzuk that asking too many questions could be bad for Yuzuk's career and dangerous to his own health. Sure enough, eight hours after Yuzuk made a call to a retired federal agent to confirm Flaherty's identity, Flaherty was mysteriously killed in a hit-and-run.